The present invention relates, generally, to housing for household pets and, more particularly, to a modular housing for cats that is economical in construction and folds flat for shipping and/or storage.
As is widely known, cats are highly intelligent and curious creatures with a bent for playfulness. The recognition of this nature in cats has lead to a wide variety of housing and climbing structures, such as those shown in Raich U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,807 and Cook U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,465.
Many of the structures presently available are rigid, multi-levels structures or tree-like structures having a variety of perches, toys, housings and/or scratching posts associated therewith. The structures are commonly in their assembled condition at the point of purchase, thus increasing the size of  the product for shipping and storage, as well as the expense attendant therewith. In addition, the structures typically are not intended to be modified by the purchaser. This inability to modify the configuration of the structure may render unsuitable for alternative locations in the pet owner's home, and may also render the housing itself unused, should the cat become bored with its particular configuration.
Accordingly, it is principle object of the present invention to provide a modular pet housing that permits assembly of a plurality of basic modules into a variety of different configurations determined by the needs and desires of the pet owner.
It is a further object to provide a modular pet housing that folds to a generally-flat configuration to minimize shipping and storage costs.
It is a still further object to provide a modular pet housing that is economical in its construction.